Rushanara Ali

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Rushanara Ali
MP
Shadow Minister for Education
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 2013
Leader Ed Miliband
Member of Parliament
for Bethnal Green and Bow
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by George Galloway
Majority 11,574 (22.8%)
Personal details
Born (1975-03-14) 14 March 1975
Bishwanath, Sylhet, Bangladesh
Nationality British Bangladeshi
Political party Labour
Residence London, United Kingdom
Alma mater St John's College, Oxford
Tower Hamlets College
Profession Politician
Website www.rushanaraali.org

Rushanara Ali (Bengali: রুশনারা আলী; born 14 March 1975) is a British Labour Party politician and Associate Director of the Young Foundation, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010.[1] Previously Shadow Minister for International Development, in the 2013 Labour reshuffle, Rushanara joined the Shadow Education team.[2]

Early life

Rushanara Ali was born in Bangladesh.[3] With her family, Ali immigrated to the East End of London at the age of seven, where she attended Mulberry School for Girls and Tower Hamlets College. Growing up in Tower Hamlets, her father was a manual worker. The first in her family to go to university, Ali studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St John's College, Oxford.

Career

Ali began her career as a Research Assistant to Michael Young, working on a project which paved the way for the establishment of Tower Hamlets Summer University, offering independent learning programmes for young people aged 11–25. She also helped to develop “Language Line”, a national telephone interpreting service in over 100 languages. Between 1997-1999 she was also Parliamentary Assistant to Oona King, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow at the time.[4]

Ali worked on human rights issues at the Foreign Office from 2000-2001. Prior to this, she was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) focussing on anti-discrimination issues from 1999-2002. From 2002-2005, she worked in the community cohesion unit at the Communities Directorate of the Home Office, leading a work programme to mobilise local and national agencies in the aftermath of the 2001 riots in Burnley, Bradford and Oldham, to prevent further conflict and unrest, challenging central Government to provide appropriate support to these areas.[5]

Since 2005, Ali has worked as Associate Director of the Young Foundation in Bethnal Green, a thinktank focussed on social innovation. She also serves as Chair of Tower Hamlets Summer University; a commissioner on the London Child Poverty Commission; Board Member of Tower Hamlets College; Trustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; and member of the Tate Britain Council.[6][7]

Ali has published articles on a variety of political issues in numerous national and local media including The Guardian, Prospect magazine and Progress magazine.[8][9][10][11] Ali has also appeared on Question Time Extra, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Thinking Allowed.[12][13] She was listed by The Guardian as one of the most powerful Muslim women in Britain.[14]

Parliamentary career

In April 2007, Ali was chosen as the Labour Party's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow, and on 6 May 2010, was elected as a Member of Parliament with a majority of 11,574 votes.[15] She is the first person of Bangladeshi origin to have been elected to the House of Commons[16][17] and along with Shabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi, became one of the United Kingdom's first female Muslim MPs.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bethnal Green and Bow - Election Results 2010 BBC News; Retrieved on 7 May 2010
  2. ↑ http://labourlist.org/2013/10/confirmed-labours-new-frontbench-team-in-full/
  3. ↑ UK gets its first Bengali MP bdnews24.com, 7 May 2010, Retrieved on 12 May 2010
  4. ↑ "Commission to tackle child poverty in London". London Councils. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  5. ↑ Mohammed Abdul Karim & Md. Shahdoth Karim (July 2008). British Bangladeshi Who's Who, 2008. British Bangla Media Group. p. 45. "Previously she worked at the Communities Directorate of the Home Office..." 
  6. ↑ "User Profile, Rushanara Ali". Social Innovation Exchange. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  7. ↑ "Rushanara Ali". London Child Poverty Commission. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  8. ↑ Ali, Rushanara (20 February 2008). "Let power reflect the people". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  9. ↑ "The Angry East End". Prospect Magazine. March 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  10. ↑ "One year later". Prospect Magazine. July 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  11. ↑ "Homes alone". Progress Magazine. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  12. ↑ "Are more young women happy to vote Conservative?". BBC Radio 4. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  13. ↑ "Laurie Taylor discusses the latest social science research.". BBC Radio 4. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008. 
  14. ↑ Muslim Women Power List The Guardian, 25 March 2009; Retrieved 3 June 2009
  15. ↑ "Rushanara Ali triumphs in an "historical moment" for Bethnal Green and Bow". East London Advertiser. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
  16. ↑ MP Rushanara makes history East End Life, Tower Hamlets Council, 10 May 2010; Retrieved 11 May 2010
  17. ↑ Rushanara Ali becomes first Bangladeshi MP London Evening Standard, 7 May 2010, Retrieved 11 May 2010
  18. ↑ Adetunji, Jo; Tran, Mark (7 May 2010). "General election 2010: first female Muslim MPs elected". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 

External links

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
George Galloway		 Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow
2010–present 		Incumbent
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